Security readout for executives and security teams
Plain-English summary
FactorJS Factor forum plugin versions 1.3.5 through 1.8.30 can reflect unsafe search input into a page. An attacker could trick a user into opening a crafted forum search URL, causing browser-side JavaScript execution and possible session cookie theft.
Executive priority
Treat as a moderate web application risk. It is not reported as actively exploited, but public forums with logged-in users should be reviewed because successful abuse could compromise sessions or alter browser-rendered content.
Technical view
CVE-2021-25982 is a CWE-79 reflected XSS in the Factor forum plugin search parameter. CVSS 3.1 is 6.1: network reachable, low complexity, unauthenticated, user interaction required, scope changed, low confidentiality and integrity impact, no availability impact.
Likely exposure
Exposure is likely limited to public or internal sites running the FactorJS Factor forum plugin in affected versions 1.3.5 through 1.8.30, especially where forum search is reachable by unauthenticated users.
Exploitation context
The bundle reports no CISA KEV listing and provides no cited evidence of active exploitation. Abuse requires user interaction, such as visiting an attacker-controlled URL, but does not require attacker authentication.
Researcher notes
The public record identifies the vulnerable parameter and points to Factor forum topic-list.vue in v1.8.30. The provided bundle does not identify a fixed release, patch commit, or official mitigation, so remediation should be source-verified.
Mitigation direction
- Inventory FactorJS Factor deployments and confirm forum plugin versions.
- Check FactorJS or vendor guidance for a fixed version or official workaround.
- Prioritize remediation for internet-facing forums with authenticated users.
- Consider temporarily limiting access to affected forum search pages.
- Ensure session cookies use protective attributes where supported.
Validation and detection
- Confirm whether Factor forum plugin versions fall between 1.3.5 and 1.8.30.
- Identify whether unauthenticated users can reach forum search functionality.
- Review rendering logic for encoded handling of the search parameter.
- Check logs for unusual forum search requests; absence is not proof of safety.
- Retest after vendor-guided remediation without using offensive payloads.
Public sources used
Generated from the cited source records. This long-tail analysis has not been individually reviewed by a named human.
Conservative CVE-to-ATT&CK context
These mappings and lookup hints may be relevant to the vulnerability behavior, CWE, affected product, or exposure path. Glexia-inferred context is not an official MITRE, ATT&CK, CWE, or CVE Program mapping.
ATT&CK lookup starting points
Use these exact CWE pages and searches to review the Glexia ATT&CK library from this CVE's weakness and description context.
CWE-79: User-session and phishing behavior lookup
Client-side and session-facing weaknesses should be reviewed alongside initial-access and user-execution behaviors. Open the exact CWE lookup page first, then review the ATT&CK searches from that MITRE weakness context. This is a Glexia lookup hint, not an official ATT&CK mapping.
Open ATT&CK lookupCVE-2021-25982 mapping review
Open the CVE-to-ATT&CK bridge for reviewed, inferred, or future official mappings tied to this CVE.
Open ATT&CK lookup- Severity
- Medium
- CVSS
- 6.1 (3.1)
- Known Exploited
- No
- Published
Vector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
CNA and ADP enrichment extracted from CVE v5
These fields come from the CVE record and ADP containers, not from Glexia's Take. They preserve time-varying source decisions such as CISA SSVC, KEV status, CVSS metrics, and provider references.
CVSS vector scores
1 official scoreWe collect every scored CVSS vector available in the official CNA and ADP containers. When more than one version is present, the table keeps the source vectors side by side instead of collapsing them into the highest score.
CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N2.82.7Primary CVE scoreVulnerability scoring details
Base CVSS 3.1 score
6.1MediumVector: CVSS:3.1/AV:N/AC:L/PR:N/UI:R/S:C/C:L/I:L/A:N
Source materials
- CVE List V5 sourceCVE List V5
- https://github.com/FactorJS/factor/blob/v1.8.30/%40plugins/plugin-forum/topic-list.vue#L139CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
- https://www.whitesourcesoftware.com/vulnerability-database/CVE-2021-25982CVE reference · x_refsource_MISC
Products and packages named in the record
CWE details
CWE links open Glexia weakness intelligence pages with official CWE context, developer remediation guidance, and related CVE mappings.
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting')
Improper Neutralization of Input During Web Page Generation ('Cross-site Scripting') represents a recurring weakness pattern that can create exploitable paths when design, validation, or implementation controls are missing.